Gold plunges Rs 1,250 to Rs 78,150 per 10 grams amid strong dollar; silver plummets Rs 1,100

Gold prices fell sharply for the second straight session and plunged Rs 1,250 to Rs 78,150 per 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday as strengthening dollar took the sheen off the yellow metal in the global markets.

According to the All India Sarafa Association, the precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity settled Rs 1,000 lower at Rs 79,400 per 10 grams on Monday. Gold of 99.5 per cent purity also slumped Rs 1,250 to Rs 77,750 per 10 grams from Monday's closing level of Rs 79,000 per 10 grams.

Silver also followed suit and declined Rs 1,100 to Rs 90,600 per kg on Tuesday. It had closed Rs 1,600 lower at Rs 91,700 per kg in the previous session.

Analysts said US President-elect Donal Trump's threat of imposing additional tariff on imports from China, Mexico and Canada drove investors towards the American currency, while easing geopolitical situation in the Middle East reduced gold's safe-haven appeal.

However, in futures trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold contracts for December delivery rose Rs 175 or 0.23 per cent to trade at Rs 75,486 per 10 grams. It had closed at Rs 75,311 per 10 grams on Monday.

"Gold remained volatile, trading between Rs 74,850-75,500 on MCX, as de-escalation in Middle East tensions led to the fading of the war premium," Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst - Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities, said.

The bullion is expected to stay volatile as market participants assess global developments, Trivedi added. Meanwhile, silver contracts for December delivery jumped Rs 698 or 0.8 per cent to Rs 88,397 per kg from the previous close of Rs 87,699 per kg.

Globally, Comex gold futures climbed $13.40 per ounce or 0.51 per cent to $2,656 per ounce.

On Monday, the precious metal plunged $100.80 per ounce or 3.71 per cent to $2,615.10 per ounce as President-elect Trump vowed an additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods and 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada, leading to a sharp gain in dollar.

Silver also quoted 0.94 per cent higher at $30.95 per ounce in the Asian market hours.

According to Pranav Mer, Vice President, EBG - Commodity & Currency Research, JM Financial Services, traders will be looking at the minutes from the Federal Reserve's November meeting, US GDP revisions and core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index data that are expected to provide insights into the US central bank's policy outlook.